Minaruto's Quest
by MelissaHope
Summary: This story is loosely based off the Clamp manga series Magic Knight Rayearth. Ruto has the fate of the world in her hands, will she take her chances and save the planet?
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: This story is not owned by me, Mel (Miss Independent3), It belongs to a friend of mine, Chelsea who does not have a s/n here and she wanted to see what other people think of her writing. So if you review I will pass it on to her. Neither she nor I own Magic Knight Rayearth, but we do know that CLAMP does.

This story is loosely based on the Clamp manga series Magic Knight Rayearth. All characters are owned by Chelsea because there are no characters from the actual Clamp series here. The first couple chapters are short so I'm sorry about that. My friend who wrote this had her computer crash last week and now we are having a hard time finding the back-up. (IF there is one) So without further ado, here it is!

  
  


MINARUTOE'S QUEST- Chapter 1

Once upon a time, there was a time that our world can not remember, a time before the dinosaurs, before there was this culture we live in now. There was another time, the time of The Guardians. The time of The Guardians was when each thing had a Guardian. This story was about a certain Guardian named Minarutoe, Ruto for short. Ruto was a Guardian yes, but she was different. Well, first off she had long blue hair with tiny braids mixed in. Ruto was tall and strongly built with sharp black eyes. She wore tight blue leggings with a laced blue shirt, and a leather belt with a dagger attached to it. On her back was a quiver of arrows and a bow in her hand. All were waterproof and were made out of quick drying material. When gotten wet the water just rolled off it, making her outfit kind of like a comfortable wetsuit. As you can guess she was the Water Guardian. Like I was saying she was different, she was the only girl Guardian except for Light Guardian and Star Guardian. Ruto was important; without water there was no one to see light and stars. So she had a hard job to do plus she was an orphan and on top of that no one liked her for those reasons. She was better off because of this, because she looked out for no one and was independent. Taking care of the water was no problem for her. Ruto did not know how important she really was, but she was soon to find out. 

It was a bright morning; everything was new in the morning light. Ruto was all ready up. She was sitting on a rock in front of her cave on the coast of the Mirror Ocean. She had been thinking about how different she really was, and did not notice a person coming up behind her. All of a sudden there was a hand on her shoulder. Ruto jumped up with her dagger pulled out and ready. 

"Who are you? Speak up quickly or I will run you through with my dagger." commanded Ruto. The man Ruto saw was tall and strong looking. He had brown hair and brown-gold eyes. His face was friendly but there was too much strength in his body for him be a weak person. 

"Hold up there girl! I don't want to hurt you. I came to talk to you so put your dagger away Ruto." said the strange man. 

"How do you know my name?" questioned Ruto.

"I know a lot about you. Like how you think that you are so different from the others and how the only reason you think that you got your position is because you were the heir to it. Am I right Ruto?" asked the man.

"Yes, I suppose that is right but that does not explain how you know that much." she slowly replied, her mind was racing with questions for this strange man who knew so much about her.

"No it does not, but, what does matter is that you are needed to help protect this land that is rightfully ours and that is how it shall stay." He said matter-of-factly. 

"You are right I suppose, but you still have not told me your name." Ruto snapped at him.

"My name is Newkoe, Guardian of the Animals of Flight, or in other words, birds." replied Newkoe 

"You are the great Newkoe?" gaped Ruto. 

"Indeed, now, the reason I have come. As I said, you are needed to protect our land-" Newkoe tried to say when Ruto chimed in.

"How? How can I help? You only need ask me and I will help you!" Ruto interrupted hurriedly.

"Slow down girl! I will tell you in do time. Now I will tell you something of what you are to do. The land is starting to be covered in darkness." Newkoe was pacing up and down the ledge they were on as he talked. 

"Darkness? What are you talking about? This land has been pure since The Ancient Years. You mean the ancient legends are coming true? But it says that a great hero will banish the Darkness away for the rest of time. There has been no hero found, is that what you want me to do? Look for the hero?" rambled Ruto. 

"No, the hero has been found. It is you. You are the hero that was foretold. Ruto, you are the one." 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Clamp owns Magic Knight Rayearth, NOT US!

And I don't own this story, my very bestsest friend does. I'm just posting it for her. So if you leave a review, I will pass it on to her.

Chapter Two

"No, it can't be me! It was to be a hero. Heroes are men, not women. I am disgraced, it cannot be." a panicking Ruto finally managed to gasp out.

"That is where you are wrong. It said that the hero was to be the only one in its family, which describes you. It is also said it must be a Water Guardian, that is you also. It all matches up." said Newkoe

"No you have to be wrong. It can't be me! It can't." she cried in exasperation.

"Yes it can, and it is. Don't you see you have been chosen? Ruto, you are the one." Ruto was standing up now, the whole time shaking her head saying "No, no it can't be." Newkoe went to her but she backed away from him.

"You're lying, you're lying, you have to be lying" screamed Ruto.

"Calm down Ruto, I am not lying. I do not lie. Listen to me." he said in a soothing voice.

"Please leave, I need to think." said a wavering Ruto.

"Think on it then, I will come back later." Newkoe said as he was walking down the narrow path that led away from her cliff-house.

_This is too much. How can this happen to me? _she thought. As Ruto was saying this to herself she ran and jumped off the edge of her cliff into the ocean. She swam for hours thinking about what Newkoe said to her. _What if it is really true_? _The facts add up and **do** match. But will I do it? _Ruto said to herself. She swam back to her cave on the cliff and dwelled on these thoughts as she went inside to her kitchen. She cooked the crab that had she caught while swimming.

As she made dinner Newkoe crept up behind her.

"Must you always come so silently Newkoe?" asked Ruto calmly.

"No, I guess I must not have been walking that quiet if you heard me." said Newkoe.

She responded, "I can hear lots of things other people can't. I suppose that I was just born with it."

She saw Newkoe hesitate, then he asked, "Have you decided to help me, well, help _our _land." asked Newkoe.

She took a deep breath, then made her final decision. "Yes, I have decided to help you and our land. What do I do now Newkoe?" She asked.

"Have you suspected a disturbance on your waters in the north?" She gave him a quizzical look that plainly said she didn't know what he meant. But he didn't notice the look or he chose to ignore it.

"There is no trouble in my northern waters." Just then a dolphin came up and talked in a hurry. "You must hurry Mistress! There is some thing killing all the fish on the northern side of the ocean please come quick, we need you!" pleaded the desperate dolphin.

"Slow down Aira, what do you mean killing all the fish? Is it the oil people again? Is that what's killing the fish?" asked Ruto.

"No, it is something else. It's him, I dare not utter his name here on the holy ground of our Guardian Mistress. Now do you see you must come or we will die without fish!" cried Aira.

"Yes, I see, take me with you Aira and be quick about it!" hastened Ruto, "Pardon me Newkoe I must do my job, I will be back." She said this as she ran to the shore where Aira was waiting. Ruto grabbed Aira's fin and was towed to the spot were the trouble was. "Hurry Aira you must hurry." hastened Ruto.

"I know that I need to hurry I will be there as soon as I can." panted Aira. Just as she said this to Aira she realized Newkoe had been holding her bow and arrows behind his back. _Why did he do that now all I have is my dagger what shall I do? I cannot go back, there is no time to go back. I will have to deal with it._ Just then Aira stopped so suddenly that she all most fell of the dolphin's back. Not that it would matter she was underwater the whole time.

"Aira why did you stop? What's wrong with you? Are you all right?" asked a scared Ruto.

"We're too late, it's over...there is nothing we can do now." sobbed Aira.

"What do you mean we're too late, I can't see! Move over let me see... what happened?" When Ruto saw what that horrific scene of seahorses and all kinds of fish cut in to pieces all over the ocean floor. She knew that she must do something "What happened here Aira? Who did this?" Ruto asked angrily.

"You mean what did this. A creature three dolphin lengths long with huge teeth, almost all of him was teeth. It came and said that if we did not give him the ocean crystals that he would kill every living thing in sight till he got them for his master. There was a herd of your seahorses and they were questioned about the crystals and they attacked this creature but they did not win. What are the Ocean Crystals Mistress?" asked Aira in a demanding tone.

"They are stones that give my water bow the power of the water, it may help me defeat this new evil Aira." stated Ruto in a sure tone but she was not so sure what would happen if they didn't. "They also keep the water life in balance with all the rest of the world. Come on lets go back. I am hungry and we left Newkoe there all by himself." Ruto commented trying not to think about what they just saw.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: This story is not owned by me, Mel (Miss Independent3), It belongs to a friend of mine, Chelsea who does not have a s/n here and she wanted to see what other people think of her writing. So if you review I will pass it on to her. Neither she nor I own Magic Knight Rayearth, but we do know that CLAMP does.

This story is loosely based on the Clamp manga series Magic Knight Rayearth. All characters are owned by Chelsea because there are no characters from the actual Clamp series here. And good news, we have found the story! The author of this story had an unfortunate computer crash and we had to do some serious looking to find it on the back-up. So yeah for us!

**Chapter 3**

It was beginning to become dark when they got back. Coming out of the water Ruto walked into the cave and grabbed one of the fluffy dry towels she kept at the front to dry herself off with and asked. "Newkoe will you stay for dinner with me and tell me more about this evil I must fight?"

"I would be honored to have dinner with you Ruto. Lets not talk about your future tonight, lets talk about the festival that is coming up while I help you make dinner." stated Newkoe.

"Well what do you want for dinner? I have grilled Bass or Sun Fish, Sun Fish are really good lets have that and crab lags shall we?" chattered Ruto. Walking into her kitchen as the sun set behind them. About an hour later Newkoe came out. With a 'good night' he left. Ruto watched him go till she could no longer see him. She went back inside and came out with a blanket. She laid out under the stars and fell asleep thinking, _I wonder what will happen tomorrow? _and was gone.

Ruto sat up quickly, she had heard something in the darkness. "Who's there?" Ruto shouted "Come out or I will fill you with arrows."

"How can you shoot me if you can not see me little one." queried a smooth voice.

"I will follow your voice, what do you say to that." laughed Ruto. Then all around her was his voice and it said back to her;

"I would like to see you try little one." The voice called back knowing he had fooled her.

"I am not little and I will find you some how," Ruto murmured then all of a sudden there was a bright light and it lit up the person's face and body. He was tall and well muscled; he had long gold-white hair. He looked very handsome in black silk pants with a loose black shirt. The clothes made his silver-blue eyes stand out in his soft curved face. When the bright light vanished he was gone.

"I will go now little one. I see that you are not as weak as I was led to believe." said the man. Ruto was still standing shocked and then he was gone. _Who could that have been? I did not see him from when all the Guardians come and counsel, but yet he looks familiar. I will tell Newkoe as soon as he comes in the morning if he does. _thought Ruto.

Newkoe woke her the next morning when he came to her cliff house. "What happened to make you sleep so long. You rarely sleep till after sunrise." questioned Newkoe.

"Well what would you do if a strange, invisible man called you 'little one' at every thing you said appeared in the middle of the night and scared you half to death?. It was not one of the best nights I've ever have had." Ruto said sarcastically.

"What do you mean that this whole thing happened last night?" asked Newkoe.

"Yes it all happened last night and if you don't mind telling me what you think he was doing here, I would love to know." demanded Ruto.

"Tell me more about this man Ruto." asked Newkoe. As Ruto told him his face grew darker and darker.

"What is wrong Newkoe? I can read your face like an open book and it says nothing good about this man." said Ruto.

"You're right about that, it is not good that this man came to you last night. I cannot believe you, you are stronger then I thought.You can hear very well because he walks in the wind and you said you heard foot steps, that is amazing that is truly amazing." said a bewildered Newkoe.

"What do you mean that you are amazed that I knew he was on my territory? I had a right to ask who he was." snapped Ruto, slightly irritated that he wasn't telling her what she wanted to know.

"I mean that was The Dark Lord of the ancient world, the very evil that you are going to fight. The Dark Lord has many pets you night call them they are made for destruction and that is what that creature was that attacked the Seahorses. Yes it was a creature that the Dark Lord made and he is the only one that can tell them what to do like the one that is searching for the crystals he will do that till told differently. Do you get what I am saying? You met your enemy the one you have to get rid of." said Newkoe to a terrified Ruto.

"So you are saying that I will have to get rid of the Dark Lord. Me. I have to, DO YOU THINK I HAVE LOST MY MIND?!?" Shouted a frantic Ruto.

"No I do not think you are out of your mind, do not shout. The Dark Lord already knows where you live and now you must be careful." Newkoe was saying while Ruto was pacing on her ledge.

"You try being careful and under control when the Dark Lord has picked you to be his lucky target of the century." shrieked Ruto.

"I know this may be difficult to understand and scary-" Newkoe tried to say.

"I was not scared or afraid of him because he was really good-looking." Ruto said with a slight blush.

"Well be careful he may look nice but he is anything but nice. He would kill you in an instant if he had the chance." stated Newkoe with a little jealous edge to his voice.

"Well why didn't he not kill me last night? I was helpless, so why did he not take the chance?" argued Ruto.

"Do you know how beautiful you are? And how the strength you have is very becoming to you?" Newkoe asked, "He has the ability to read things in your mind. I think he was looking for the place were you keep the Ocean Crystals." Newkoe pointed out.

"Do you think that he found out were the place is?" Ruto asked.

"Well the only way to tell is to go to the place and look to see. You do know were the place is don't you?" Newkoe said with apprehension.

"Yes it would be kind of pointless for me not to know were the place is. I was told many times for as long as I am able to remember the location of the Crystals. We will have to go in the water though. Will you come with me to go see?" Ruto asked.

"Well I was not going to, but I do not see why I can not go with. Will we be going under water?" Newkoe wondered.

"Yes but if you hold my hand you will be able to breathe underwater." Ruto said. Newkoe looked at her in wonder and shook his head is confusion.

"How may I ask do you know that will happen? I could trust you and you could just make me look stupid for believing you."

"Well if I want you to live the water will not harm you, it is a nice trait having command over the water. What I want will most likely happen. I do not know why that is. If I find out I will tell you. But that is how I swim in the water for I can not breathe under water even though I can command it." Ruto said ironically.

"So does that mean that you want me to live a long and happy life?" Newkoe said.

Ruto turned to the water and then turned to look at Newkoe. "I know this is a really odd time to be asking this,but how old are you? Because you look like you are in your twenties like me but you have the brains of a fifty year old. If you do not want to answer that is ok. Well I should stop talking I am just babbling now aren't I." Ruto rambled off as a blush crept up her cheeks.

Newkoe was chuckling at Ruto's blushing and babbling. "It's ok, did you know that you are cute when you ramble? I am twenty-two just like you. So you can wipe that blush off of your face. You know I thought I had you figured out but I guess I did not. You are very good usually about hiding your feelings but you do have them just like every one else." Newkoe commented.

"Well I do not know why I let myself go. I mean I don't like you in that way." Ruto held up her hands to stop Newkoe's answer. "I mean that I like you as a friend but not as a lover; I guess you could say it that way. Well now you have done it again if you would stop smiling at everything I say I would get to the point faster. Now can we go this is making me uncomfortable." Ruto turned and walked to the water and was about to jump in when Newkoe caught her arm.

"Ruto do you mean that you do not think that you could ever love someone who is a friend?" Newkoe said pulling Ruto to him and kissing her. Ruto was to surprised to do anything. So when Newkoe pulled her closer to deepen the kiss she let him. This was the first time that she had ever kissed anyone or thought that any one would want to kiss her. When Newkoe stepped back Ruto was still in shock.

"Ruto, I did not mean to go that far, forgive me I-" Newkoe looked down at the ground, ashamed. Ruto stepped forward and since she was a couple inches shorter the Newkoe with his head looking down it was just the right height for her to kiss him back.

"You're forgiven," Ruto said.

"I did not know that I could have kissed you and you would have been fine with it or I would have done it sooner." Newkoe said, his voice husky from their kiss.

"I would have killed you if you had tried any sooner. I did not trust you and I did not think I would like to have any one start to love me for I am the outcast." Ruto said with a smile on her lips.

"We should go. We have to go to the Water Cave were the Ocean Crystals are to see if they took them." Ruto said as she went back to the water edge. This time Newkoe followed her.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: This story is not owned by me, Mel (Miss Independent3), It belongs to a friend of mine, Chelsea who does not have a s/n here and she wanted to see what other people think of her writing. So if you review I will pass it on to her. Neither she nor I own Magic Knight Rayearth, but we do know that CLAMP does.

This story is loosely based on the Clamp manga series Magic Knight Rayearth. All characters are owned by Chelsea because there are no characters from the actual Clamp series here.

Chapter 4

When they got to the Water Cave Ruto put her hand on the door. The place where her hand was resting glowed and then there was an opening for a key. Ruto took the key from a string around her neck put in the slot and the door opened. The Water Cave was a place where there was always an air pocket for it never filled with water. The cave had five hallways to choose from, Ruto went in the third one and walked down that hallway and turned left at a door. She then put another key in the lock. When Ruto opened the door there was a bright light. When the light dimmed they were in a room that was covered in blue glass and in the middle of the room was a huge fountain that has three tresses. The water glittered with what looked like pieces of diamond and sapphire.

"Is that where the Crystals are kept Ruto?" Newkoe asked in amazement.

"No that would be just screaming here 'I am take me, take me'. No the crystals are in a different room under the fountain. You would not think under would you?" Ruto said to the look on Newkoes face.

"How could you move something like that. It must weigh at least a ton or two."

Ruto smiled, "We must have done well for you to think that. The fountain weighs only fifteen pounds at the most and that is the weight of the water." With that said Ruto pulled one of the shells on the fountain and the fountain moved back to reveal stairs. "Come, we must go down to check on the crystals." Ruto said as she started down the stairs. When they got to the bottom there was a door with writing on it.

"What does the writing on the door say?" Newkoe said asked as he looked closely at the words.

"It is a warning that whoever sets foot in the next room must have water in their blood or they must be accompanied by one who has the blood."

Ruto pricked her finger and put two drops of blue blood on the water drop sign on the door. Then Ruto took Newkoe's hand and pricked his finger and put his blood over hers. "Now you can enter the room with out getting killed." Stated Ruto as she opened the door. The room was dark but Ruto walked right to the middle of the room as if she could see. Then in the middle of the room there was a faint shimmer of blue. In a small dish-like a shell there was two dewdrop gems glowing as if they had fire inside of them.

"Are these the Ocean Crystals? They are beautiful." Newkoe said in a whisper, for in this room it felt as if you needed to whisper not to disturb the reverence of the room. "I have seen my Golden Feathers. The jewels that are supposed to keep my domain together but these are more than the keepers of order these are the essence of the ocean. You have done a well to keep them hidden like this. For if they fell into the wrong hands...." he trailed off.

"I know, I know, the ocean will dry up and we will be without water and I must die to give the land new crystals. They were my fathers last words to me 'Keep them safe a bad time is coming'." She said quietly. Newkoe went over to Ruto and rubbed her arms for her whole body was shaking. "The Crystals call out for my body to become one with them. For if I ever needed all the power I posses, I would need to have the crystals combine with me. My father did and he died for he did not have the control over the water that I do now. He did it trying to save my mother and me from the old Dark Lord. I was five years old when I saw my father turn in to a bright barrier to guard us. My mother died shortly after because my father did not have enough power so my mom gave him hers." Ruto turned to Newkoe and put her head in his chest and cried. Newkoe held her there until she was all cried out. Ruto stepped back and wiped her face on her sleeve. "I have not cried like that since before my parents died. I promised them I would not cry again for they said that crying was a sign of weakness and I did not want to be weak in front of them as they slipped away from me." Ruto took a deep breath. She looked at Newkoe and smiled at him. It was a weak smile but it was a smile.

Newkoe stepped forward and kissed her. "I'm sorry you had to be so strong so early in your life." Newkoe said to Ruto who was still leaning against him from their kiss.

"Well it made me strong so I could survive the criticism from everyone else. Also I could not have stood up to the Dark Lord when he came to visit me. Do you know if he has another name, like a birth name? Or was he called Dark Lord as his real name?" Ruto said jokingly.

Newkoe look into the blackness. "Yes he does have a real name. His name is Gabriel but I called him Rie. Rie is my brother; he was the guardian over the lightning. Then he decided to become the most powerful guardian, which is Night or Darkness. Therefore the name Dark Lord." Newkoe said keeping his voice neutral but you could her the pain in his voice. "He is my twin brother. I looked up to him and he took the place of my uncle which your father killed trying to save you."

It was Ruto's turn to comfort him. "I had a twin, a brother but he died at birth. I never knew till two years ago when my grandmother told me." Ruto came to her senses. "We need to leave the crystals have the power to make you remember the sad and hurtful things in life." With that they left the room and walked into the fountain room.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: We don't own Clamp. All characters in this story are original. This story is loosely based of the Clamp manga series Magic Knight Rayearth.

AND NOW! A message from our author!!!! Hi, This is Chelsea here, if you have any suggestions or any questions about the story please feel free to review and Mel(Miss Independent3) she will give them all to me. Or you can e-mail her through her profile if you don't want your question to show up on the website.

Minaruto's Quest

**Chapter 5**

In the room waiting for them was Rie. Newkoe stiffened beside Ruto. His face went white, as he looked upon his twin.

"What are you doing here Rie? How did you get thought the door and hallways?" Newkoe demanded.

"Well my little twin how are you? I haven't seen you in over three years and you greet me with such hostility. Tisk, tisk you used to have better manners then that. Well to answer your questions I do not need to open doors remember? And it was not hard to follow the wet footprints down the hallway. I must commend you little one for your forefathers did a wonderful job building this place." Rie said turning to Ruto.

"Will you please stop calling me little one I am the same age as you! I do have a name if you would like to hear it." Ruto spat out in disgust.

"Well now aren't we a little feisty today? And I do know your name and that we are the same age but little one sounds so cute and just right for you. Oh stop glowering at me brother you know I always flirt with girls. It's not like it's new to you anyway. Oh, but this one is close to you. Well I have to take her from you for she is the only one who can use the crystals and well if I am going to have all the other guardians obey me, I will need to have some power over them. So if you will come with me Ruto we will go get those jewels from down stairs we can be on our way." Rie said as he walked to the stairway. Ruto did not move just stared at Rie as if he had lost his mind that he could order her around. "I don't think you heard me, let's go!" Rie commanded. With saying that he waved his hand and Ruto was lifted off her feet and floated over to Rie who brushed his hand softly down her cheek. "You will learn to come when I call or it will be much worse for you." Ruto jerked back from his touch. "Skittish aren't we? Well we'll have to work on that." Looking at Newkoe, Rie said, "You were going to let her stay like this? With her not listening to you and flinching at your every move. You have bad taste in women but I like a challenge."

Newkoe looked at his brother and said. "She trusted me so I did not have to do a thing but let is happen at her pace. If I were you I would keep a knife under your pillow in the days to come, for if you intend keep her until you are done with this-this...thing?" asked Newkoe.

"Well of course. I am going to marry her so we'll have a son that will have the blue blood so then I will not need her. After she gives me the child then you can have her." Rie said calmly, like it happened all the time. While the brothers were talking Ruto was still floating but she could move her hands and feet. So she grabbed her knife and threw it at Rie's back. It flew straight and true, but Rie just sidestepped it at the last moment. Ruto could throw a knife so well that you could not hear it coming so she was amazed that he dodged it. "Good throw I almost didn't get out of the way fast enough. I didn't know that you were so good with weapons. Brother, I guess you have chosen a good person to fall in love with. But I think I am starting to like her myself." Rie turned to Ruto and waved his hand her arms and legs were stuck to her body. "Let's see what you can do now." He turned back to Newkoe.

"You would be wise just to kill me for I will not let you use me this way I have a number of tricks that no one knows about." Ruto said icily.

"Ouch, I think I just got colder in here. Strong words for some one so soft and beautiful." Rie said in a mock hurt voice.

"Don't you dare underestimate me you bastard! I may be a women but I can still whip your ass if you care to try me." Ruto spat out with her face icy cool.

Rie's eyebrows went up at every word she said. "Wow, I am truly impressed. I don't think I will use you the way I thought I was going to, you are worth so much more as my Dark Lady not as a brood mare. You are more than I could have hoped for." Newkoe went up to his brother and punched him squarely in the jaw. Rie's head snapped to the right with the force of the blow. Rie turned his head and looked at Newkoe with such burning anger that most people would have gone to their knees. Newkoe stared back with the same anger. "That was unwise brother." Rie said after he spat out some blood. "You are being most unwise, for you know that I will beat you, I always have." With that Rie hit Newkoe in the gut. With a grunt Newkoe leaned over in pain. Rie hit him in the middle of the back knocking him to the floor.

All of a sudden Rie hit the floor with Ruto standing behind him putting her foot down on the floor again. "If you mess with him you have to mess with me. You forget where you are. You are in my world here." Ruto warned as she walked over to Rie and kicked him viscously again in the side. He slid two feet from the force of the kick. Rie got up and was on the floor again as Ruto hit him in the face. "As you see, I am not that soft but you seem to be. You are also over confidant in your spells but I have a few myself but I never seem need them."

Rie was looking up at her wiping the blood from his mouth. "Well I seem to have misjudged you again but I will not do that a third time." With that Rie went up in a cloud of black smoke.

Ruto went over to Newkoe who was sitting on the floor, holding his stomach and staring at her in awe. "What haven't you ever seen a girl fight before?" Ruto said.

"Not like that. You were amazing! I did not know that you were so strong. Wow, you never stop astounding me." Newkoe said shaking his head.

"Are you ok, you took some strong punches. Let me see your back to make sure that he did not hurt you." He twisted around and Ruto lifted the bottom of his shirt to check his back. "No, I see nothing wrong other than a big black bruise." Ruto said as she looked at the spot were Rie had hit him. Then Newkoe felt a cool touch and the pain ebbed away and the soreness eased. "There is that better?" Ruto asked. Newkoe turned to look into Ruto's deep blue eyes. He saw worry for him, and fear of Rie for all of her big words, and pain for the thought of what would happen if she had taken Rie to the room below.

"You are really strong aren't you to cover all your emotions and to carry on without any concern for yourself. That's what has drawn me to you. Your selfless love and passion that you do all things put before you." Newkoe said in a tender voice. Ruto's eyes grew big in recognition.

"Your are the boy I saved from drowning aren't you? You said those words to me after you woke up. Your brother was there too. He ran to help you but I was already in the water so I got there first. Your brother knew because you have some sort of twin thing with him right?" Newkoe nodded in answer to her question. "That is why when I met you and your brother again I thought I knew you." Ruto murmured.

"We should get back to your house. So I can rest and you can think of what we should do next." Newkoe said as he got up and cracked his back several times as he stretched.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey it's Miss Independent3 here! Here's another chapter! Chelsea tells me that she is guessing we have to start making out chapters a helluva lot longer or we'll we running on chapter 100 soon. I am just scratching the surface of this fic. Theres oodles more for me to post on here.

I don't just beta for Chelsea I also beta 2 stories for another friend of mine, Nienna Silmarwen. (Check 'em out!) So it's hard to get out chapters. But I'll start making them longer for you guys! PLEASE START REVIEWING!

Disclaimer: We don't own Clamp or Magic Knight Rayearth. We do own all character in this story because they are all original.

**Chapter 6**

"Well I followed you here thinking you would like a ride back. Newkoe looks like he does. Climb on Newkoe and I will take you back." Aira said swimming over to Newkoe.

"Go with her I will be a little behind for she is a fast swimmer." Ruto said to Aira.

Newkoe grabbed onto her fin. "Don't take to long Ruto, I will be waiting. Oh right I have to give this to you. I thought it might help you with your task. It will give you wings when you need them. It is also apart of me always with you." Newkoe handed her a necklace that had an iridescent feather on it. Ruto put it on and waved them off. _How did he know that I called Aira to take him home? He also knew I was not following them back. He must have had some feeling that I was not done with his brother._ _Well where would I be if I was the Dark Lord? Ah yes, the barren lands, it would be the perfect place for an evil lord to take over first. So off I go._Ruto could swim very fast but it took her three days to get there, nothing really happened during her trip. One of her gifts was that she could make a protection bubble so when she wanted to sleep she would make the bubble. The bubble would hold air for her to breathe while she rested.

_I'm lost, I don't know where to go next__. __What am I going to do when I get there.... IF I get there._ Well she did not have to wait long for that afternoon she found it. The land was brown and the trees were brown and the grass was guess what; yes brown. That was why they called it the barren land. There was no color in this land and there was one temperature, warm and there was one forecast, sunny and at night it was a full moon. It was the only place on earth where there was nothing that ever changed. So it was a shock for Ruto. Her world was full of colors. The water made plants grow and the water had so many colors in it that you could not call it one color. But this place you could call brown. Yep brown, that was about it. In the distance there was a mountain, and on the mountain was a large building. She could only see the outline of the building against the mountains peak, she was too far away to see and details.

_I assume that is where the great lord himself lives_. _I wonder if he can tell I am here, I guess I will find out.___

It didn't take a lot of walking before she saw something, not more than a mile into her trekking there was a white centaur cantering towards her it was such a contrast to the rest of the brown landscape it was hard to miss. There were not many of their kind left because they always wanted to kill the guardians for they wanted to ruled the world themselves.

"I am to take you to his lordship." said the centaur.

"Well I hate to tell you this but I will go on my own thank you." Ruto said as she started to pass the centaur.

"I do not think you understand. I am to bring you to him now and you walk far to slow. So if you will not come willingly I will have to take you by force." He said in a deep bass voice with that the centaur came over to Ruto.

"Well I do not think you understand me. I said NO. and I mean No. ok?" Ruto began walking again. The centaur gave her a look that could kill and ran over to her and tried to grab her arm and pull her to him but instead he got a dagger at his throat.

"I do not like to be manhandled got it." she growled.

"I am not a man so that means nothing to me." With that the centaur grabbed her waist and tried to hoist her onto his back in one smooth, quick movement. In doing so the dagger cut his shoulder all the way to his back as he pulled her along. He dropped her and cursed.

"Being manhandled is trying to grab someone who does not want to be grabbed. So if you will be so kind as to not touch me again I will let you live." Ruto began to walk again.

"I will have to hurt you for you have hurt me. So prepare yourself." The centaur charged at Ruto. Shaking her head she pulled her bow back and shot him in the heart. The centaur fell the moment the arrow hit him.

"Well now that we have that fixed I will be on my way." Ruto turned toward the mountain and began to walk again. _It is nice that they keep an armory in the cave of the jewels. I would have had to go back home to get my bow and arrows and more knives. I wonder if there will be more friends to help take me to his Lordship. I am going to walk all the way there myself so that__I will know the way back._

Ruto walked for what seemed forever but it was only two hours, it seemed that way because there was no change in anything it seemed like it she was walking but not going anywhere. Ruto walked for a little longer and then sat down to rest and drink some water. _This is very frustrating I have no one to talk to and here I am in a land I have heard that people never come back from. _All of a sudden there was a big gust of wind and the dirt whirled up in a cloud. Ruto could not see until the dust settled back to the ground.

"I had my bet on the centaur but he does get angry too easily for his own good. Hello my name is Settee. I am a humble illusionist at your service."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: For anyone who hasn't figured this out yet, I am actually just a beta for the real author of this fic, my best friend Chelsea. Lets just say she can't figure out this whole posting thing. So I do it for her. (Yeah yeah, I sound like some kind of lacky or something.) Well This chapter is a little bit longer that the last 6, so enjoy!

P.S. We do have the story finished, so it's just a matter of beta'ing and posting it.

Disclaimer: We don't own Rayearth!

Minaruto's Quest

Chapter 7

"I had my bet on the centaur but he does get angry too easily for his own good. Hello my name is Settee. I am a humble illusionist at your service." Bowed Settee. The man in front of her was clothed in a brown robe, _what a shocker._ He was tall and had a graying brown beard and brown hair.

"Well are you here to take me to the castle? Let me guess you the one making me walk in one place." Ruto said.

"Well now how did you know that I was the one making you think you were walking in one spot?" Settee asked.

"Well for one thing I can feel other peoples magic and I do not tire easily so I was astounded that I had to sit because I was so tired. I have gone three days with out getting tired. Plus I think you were the one tired not me and I got some of that fatigue from you. Does that answer your questions?" Ruto said smugly.

"Yes well," Settee said flustered, " you are right about all of it and I am here to take you to the castle." Settee said regaining his composure.

"Didn't you see what happened to the centaur back there? That could also happen to you." Ruto pointed out.

"Ah but there is one difference, he did not know illusions but I do." Then there was a big gust of wind again and Settee was in three different bodies. The bodies were all perfect replicas of their maker. They were floating and chanting something then they stopped and pointed their fingers at her. Ruto was smart enough not to just stand there and look at what was happening.

"You will ether perish or you will come with me to the castle. You choose." They all said at one.

Ruto stared at them. "Just because you have two more of you, you think that you can beat me. Well I have news for you, I am not going anywhere with you." And Ruto walked away from them, just a she was going to take another step a brick wall was in her way. "Now did you forget that you told me you were an illusionist?" Ruto reminded as she walked through the brick wall.

"You, you, I will get you!" Settee said as a he alone turned red with anger. The next moment he had an arrow in his heart.

"You let your emotions show and copies do not have emotion." Ruto said to Settee as he looked at her in disbelief. "Now take up the illusion so I may go on my way." Settee nodded and waved his hand and there was the mountain closer then she ever thought she was. Ruto said "Thank you," politely as she passed the dying man.

_Well that was fun. I think he is testing how good I am or is trying to wear me out so I will not fight at my peak health. Well I know how to deal with that._ Ruto was deep in her own thoughts and she did not see the shadow behind her. Then she felt a searing pain run through her body as a huge bird raked his claws down her back. Ruto fell to the ground and rolled out of the way of the next attack. The bird shrieked as he missed his prey. __

_Crap! Did it have to be a giant crazy bird?!_ You could see the madness in the great golden birds eyes._. All he wants to do is kill and he decides it going to be me_. _Well Rie I thought you wanted me to live, but I guess not. Oh well, I will not stress myself over that right now. I am going to concentrate on staying alive first._

The bird turned and headed toward Ruto for its next attack. Then suddenly the bird stop in his flight and landed on the ground next to Ruto.

"How do you posses the token of My Lord?" The great bird asked. The Ruto noticed that the pendent Newkoe gave her was glowing. "That is one of the Golden Feathers. The sign of our guardian. How have you come to posses it, I want an answer!" Squawked the bird.

"Newkoe gave it to me. I did not know it was one of the Golden Feathers. I thought they were golden. This one is iridescent not gold." Ruto said.

"Lord Newkoe gave it to you? Who are you that he would give such a token to. I cannot hurt you for what pain I do to you will happen to me. Look at my back." The bird said as it turned his back to her. There were four long deep gashes on his back. " Is that what my back looks like?" Ruto asked with pain in her voice for she noticed the pain on her back.

"Yes it is exactly the same, nothing different." The bird said as he nodded his head.

"Well what am I going to do if you cannot hurt me?" Ruto asked.

"I will do nothing I will go away and leave you to go on your own." With that the bird jumped into the air and was gone.

_Well that was easier then I had thought it was going to be. First lets heal the back. _Ruto's back glowed blue with her healing power. She cleaned the wound and stopped the bleeding._ Now time to climb the mountain. This out to be fun._

Ruto thought as she looked at the clean-cut side of the face of mountain. With that Ruto grabbed the first hand holds and pulled herself up. About ten feet off the ground the face of the mountain began to shake. Ruto almost lost her handhold but she hung on for dear life. Ruto began to climb again and ten feet later the same thing happened she still hung on. Twenty feet later it shook and then she lost her hold and fell five feet where she landed hard on a ledge. _Damnit! I will never get up the mountain if I keep falling. I must get up this mountain. That is the only way to get to Rie._ Ruto looked up the mountain with renewed strength and began to climb again. This time the mountain did not shake.

When she got to the top Ruto had to rest, her back was throbbing. The sweat that trickled down her back got in the gashes. _I have got to get these cleaned out again_, she thought. It was as if someone had heard her because when she looked to her left there was an oasis. _Well that will do nicely._

Ruto did not have to worry if the water was clean because if she touched water that was not clean it was purified by her touch. Ruto jumped into the pool and took off the top half of her outfit in order to let the water get to the cuts. The water cleaned her cuts and cooled her down considerably. She took her clothes and washed them from her sweat and her blood. _I will have to fix the cuts in my shirt before I get any more dirt and grime in my cuts._

Ruto did not get the opportunity for as she was sitting in the water a little knife flew and cut her shoulder. It would have gone into her back but she heard the knife coming. "Do you not know that it is improper to look at a woman guardian with no clothes on? Now I will have to kill you." Ruto said with deadly calmness in her voice. She waited for the person to speak so she could throw the knife that she caught.

Ruto heard nothing but the sound of another knife coming at her. Ruto did not turn but her hand shot out and caught the knife as it whizzed by her. "I will repeat myself even though I do not like to. It is death to those that see me undressed. If you throw one more knife I will throw it back at you and you will most likely die." Ruto informed the person. Her only answer was another knife that was aimed at her heart, she caught it with out any effort.

Ruto turned, her long blue hair covering her and she threw the knife into the woods surrounding the oasis. There was a grunt and she saw a man fall into the water with a knife deeply embedded in his shoulder.

Ruto swam up to the body and held a knife to his throat. "Should I kill you sir or should I interrogate you first?" Ruto asked the man. He looked up into her eyes and all he saw was icy coldness. "Well speak I did not hit you in a life threatening spot, now talk." Ruto snapped.

The man opened his mouth and he did not have a tongue. Ruto looked away and almost lost her stomach's contents. "Nod yes or no ok?" The man nodded yes. "Did Lord Rie send you?" The man shook his head no. "Oh, of course you do not know him by that name. Did the Dark Lord send you?" The man nodded yes. "Is he in that castle on the mountain?" The man nodded yes. "Should I kill you or let you go free?" The man nodded yes to the first no to the second. Ruto nodded she turned, went to her clothes and grabbed a small leaf and took it to the man and told him that it was. A poisoned leaf that if he ate it would kill him in two minuets. The man nodded and left her alone again in the pool. Ruto went to her clothes and stitched them back together. Putting them on she went back on her way to the castle.

Ruto got to the gate and rapped on the wooden door that was ten feet tall and seven feet wide. A small door in the gate opened. A man stuck his head out the door.

"May I help you?" asked the gate master.

"I would like to talk with the Lord of this castle." Ruto said confidently.

"Sorry you can't." With that the small door was closed in her face.

"You don't understand, he knows I'm coming. He sent some friends to come get me. Did you hear me? Hey, he knows I'm coming." Ruto banged on the door. The little door opened and two big knights came out in full armor and approached her.

"You are the woman that my Lord said was coming?" One knight asked

"Yes I am. Can I go in now?" Ruto asked. The knight behind her kicked her legs out from under her and slapped her in the face with a metal covered hand. Shocked, Ruto fell to the ground and spat blood from the slap. The knight who had asked her the question kicked her in the side roughly, she tried to sit up but the second knight hit her on the head and the whole world went black.

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Hey guys, if you're reading the story you need to review cause I don't see the point of continuing if no one is reading this.... So plz review! 


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